Joan Osborne

October 3rd - 5th, Albanus 1

From the dwarven lands, the Surrexi headed south to the Holy Mounds.  Titus felt that his squire was ready to present herself to the Gods, and seek their blessings.

The Holy Mounds lay in the Viridian Empire, in the western ends of the Barony of Sulis.  An ancient stone avenue, now pocked with weeds, led from the main road to five small, round hills.  Statues of priests, holy women, and paladins lined its sides;  but they had been neglected.  Moss grew on them, and dead leaves gathered around their bases.  At the end of the avenue they found a small shrine and a camp-site.  Nearby, a spring gurgled into a stone basin where squires traditionally bathed before ascending the Mounds.  When the young boy (or, today, woman) climbed to the hilltops, their knight remained below, fasting and praying throughout the night.

Early the next morning, Leyna prepared herself for her trial.  At dawn, as her family prayed and sacrificed below, she climbed the winding stone trail that rose up to a small dale in the midst of the five mounds.  She was disturbed to find signs of vandalization in this, the land's holiest site.  Dulcea's mound, which lay to the north, had been defaced.  The goddess' statue was missing, and someone had chiseled off the heads of all her graven images.  But although this disturbed the squire, it was not unexpected.  Leyna had made a small statue of a black dog, which she now placed in the goddess' shrine.

For the rest of the day she remained at the central altar, offering a prayer that she composed herself -- in addition to the usual squires' prayers.  As evening drew on, she crawled into her bed-roll and prepared for sleep.  Any dreams that visited a squire upon the Mounds were considered signs from the Gods.  Perhaps she would be lucky enough to have one.

In her dreams, she performed her ceremony again -- but this time, the Gods made their presence known.  Dulcea's shrine was empty, though Leyna felt watched as she prayed there.

As the squire stepped to Bella's shrine, she heard a voice whisper, "Who am I?"  The goddess' statue blurred, and suddenly four people stood in front of her.  One was a tall Dus berserker, a woman with charms and feathers tied in her long blonde hair, wielding a great sword.  The second was a smiling, pretty woman -- who looked more like a soldier's paramour than a warrior -- with a delicate spear and shield;  the traditional depiction of Bella.  To one side of the women stood two men.  General Martialis leaned over a table covered with maps.  Beside him stood a muscular, bearded man who wore Dulsanian garb and brandished a crude, heavy mace;  somehow Leyna knew that this was Reese, the All-Father of Dulsanius, Power Incarnate.

Once more the voice asked, "Who am I?"  Leyna simply smiled and said, "War is all of these things."  The four images blurred together, melting into the image of the Dus woman, who raised her sword in a salute.  "I give you my blessing," she said.  "Your blows shall destroy evil.  And as you keep to me, so shall your power grow.  Do with it as you will."

Moving around the circle, Leyna came next to the altar of Askelius, god of healing.  A young man waited for her;  serpents coiled around his wrists, and curled up near his feet.  At her approach the god rose, smiling gently, and kissed her on the forheard.  "I have no test for you," he said, "because neither you nor the Order has done me no wrong.  But ask them this," he added, as his smile turned sad.  "How can those who do not cleanse themselves hope to clean others?"  Around them the land shifted.  Leyna saw the Holy Mounds in winter, covered with pure, unbroken snow.  A reference, perhaps, to the Feast of Purification (February 2nd) when the priests of Viridia and Rostilla were suppoed to come to the Holy Mounds and pray for guidance.  "I give you my blessing," said Askelius.  "Sickness will never touch you, and those you lay your hands upon will be blessed.  The unclean dead shall flee your presence.  As you keep to me, so shall your holiness grow."

A much stormier reception awaited Leyna at Legis.  Three furious men began berating her as soon as she arrived.  "You're an abomination," snarled Grand Master Tinnius.  "Your mere presence on these Mounds is blasphemy.  You have the audacity to demand the Gods' favor while you spit in their faces.  There have never been women in the Order of St. Cavallius, and there never will be.  How dare you come here?"  General Martialis joined Tinnius' complaints.  "Is THIS embroidery?" Leyna's father shouted.  "Is THIS a womanly art?  Did I send you to my brother to learn THIS?  Is this how you obey me?"  The last man was Legis, sitting upon a throne as he is usually depicted, holding a sceptre.  Though he was quieter than the other two images, he frowned.  "Do you understand that this is not frivolous?  This changes everything, forever.  Are you willing -- are you able -- to make such a commitment?"

Sometimes deeds are a better argument than words.  Leyna simply said "yes", and quietly withstood the ravings of Tinnius and her father.  Legis finally sighed and said, "So be it.  I give you my blessing.  I will teach you the true words of prayer, words that will break the spells of any evil-doer.  As you keep to me, so shall the power of your word grow."

Things quieted down as Leyna proceeded to Crescens' altar, where she found a beautiful golden-haired woman, dressed in green silks, sitting upon soft cushions.  Children, small animals, and birds surrounded her.  On her left hand stood Leyna's flute-master from Viridistan;  on her right was Matina Harrans, who had struggled so hard to teach Leyna the "feminine" arts.  Crescens winced as the squire approached her.  "Oh, my dear.  Are you really sure you want to do this?  Do you want to give up home, family, joy and pleasure?  Do you really want to be hacked into pieces and sleep in ditches?"

Yes, Leyna assured her.  This is what she wanted -- even if it hurt to give up Crescens' blessings.  (A concession that made the goddess smile.)  The world needed more defenders.  And specifically, it needed female paladins.  Crescens gave a deep sigh.  "Well, I'm not going to argue.  I hate arguing.  I give you my blessing.  I give you luck, safety, and dutiful squires.  As you keep to me, so shall your joy grow.  Oh and tell them they should have more children!" she exclaimed suddenly.  "No.  Wait.  They won't understand that at all.  Tell them... oh, you understand what I mean, don't you?  The young keep us pure at heart."  Leyna smiled and promised to pass the goddess' words on to the Order.

The prayer brought the squire full circle, back to Dulcea's mound.  But this time, the shrine was not empty.  A tall, gaunt woman, her face shrouded by a cloak, waited there.  Beside her stood a black mastiff, pale-eyed and silent.  Ravens circled overhead and lightning rumbled somewhere in the distance.

"Pay no heed to fools," Dulcea said.  "Desire is the Mother of all endeavors.  What you wish will be yours, if your passion is great enough.

"I will not challenge you, for you have not wronged me.  I give you my blessing.  Fear shall not cripple you.  Evil shall not hide from your eyes.  This is the greatest of my blessings, which the benighted have lost.  As you keep to me, so shall the keeness of your vision grow.

"And I will give you a warning as well."  Beside the goddess, the dog's lips wrinkled back into a silent snarl.  "Tell them the righteous shall choke upon their own folly.  Those who rage, I will embrace;  those who are shamed, I will pardon.  But those who are cold, I leave to the cold.

"Now go," she said, with malign amusement in her voice, "and horrify them."

With that, Leyna awoke.  It was dawn, and the warmth of the Gods' blessings filled her body.  Everything looked slightly different:  more colorful, more intense.  She was, indeed, a paladin.